We are respectfully requesting INDOT place the design/build part of its INDOT Proposal on holdimmediately while it studies other options that better suit the Indianapolis downtown and its historic neighborhoods.

Please sign this petition ONLY if you will be affected due to residency, property ownership, or employmentin one of the affected neighborhoods and downtown.

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Formal Petition

Each of the undersigned petitioners will be affected by the I-65/I-70 North Split Interchange Reconstruction Project (Des. Nos. 1592385 & 1600808) proposed by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) (the “INDOT Proposal”) because of residency, property ownership, or employment in one of the affected neighborhoods and/or downtown. For that reason, each undersigned petitioner respectfully requests INDOT immediately place the design/build part of its INDOT Proposal on hold to engage in a study of other options that better suit the Indianapolis downtown and its historic neighborhoods.

Recognizing that the infrastructure proposed to be reconstructed is at the end of its life-cycle, each petitioner wishes to make sure that all reasonable options have been considered by INDOT, not just the ones that perpetuate and exacerbate the mistakes of the past that divided neighborhoods, hindered public safety, and delayed commercial and residential redevelopment in downtown Indianapolis. Accordingly, each has signed this petition to respectfully request that INDOT consider options before proceeding with an investment that will last another 50-years.

A group of planners, landscape architects, architects, and residents, all of whom have made significant investments in the success of the city center, have come together to propose two potential options to the INDOT Proposal. Visit www.huniindy.org to view the proposals and sign up on the ListServ to stay informed.

In view of the substantial visual, audible, and vibration impacts on a number of historic properties adjacent to the current right-of-way for I-65/I-70 downtown, the undersigned petitioners believe that the Federal Highway Administration and INDOT should take measures under Section 4(f) of the 1966 Department of Transportation Act, as amended, to explore all prudent and feasible alternatives to the current design options that would minimize harm to the contributing properties in the National Register and locally designated historic districts that are adjacent to the I-65/I-70 rights of way downtown. Each petitioner believes that INDOT should consider the options petitioners have proposed: (a) congestion mitigation strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled and continued contribution to urban sprawl; (b) regional and local traffic distribution balancing; (c) noise and air quality mitigation; (d) reparation of the adverse impact on Indianapolis caused by the 1960’s-70’s interstate overlay on the urban core; (e) effect on property values, walkability, environmental, and social justice in the downtown neighborhoods; (f) cost analyses of both the local and regional economic benefits; (g) creative funding options for the preferred option; (h) adaptability to currently anticipated and future transportation and logistics technologies; (i) integration of regional and local mass transit; (j) improved crosstown multimodal mobility (bike/pedestrian/transit); and (k) mitigation of adverse traffic conditions over a multi-year phased construction process.

Accordingly, each petitioner respectfully requests INDOT place the design/build part of its INDOT Proposal on hold immediately while it studies options that achieve the goals outlined above, that are merited in a world class city, and that befits the economic engine for the State of Indiana.